Boys Basketball: West Side beats buzzer, Michigan City 78-75

There is a lot of affection between the two coaches in the relatively new rivalry between Michigan City and West Side.

Murray Richards, the Cougars coach, was John Boyd’s top assistant when he was the Cougars coach. Richards followed Boyd to Michigan City when he didn’t get the top job at West Side.

He finally got the call in 2012 after Winston Garland left for Tennessee. The two were chatting before the game in a way that only close friends talk.

Boyd always called Richards his defensive specialist, the guy that helped carve out West Side’s state title in 2002.

A 78-75 victory for West Side Saturday was anything but defensive.

It was a topsy, turvy, thrill-a-minute game that ended with a moment no one in the gym will soon forget.

Jeffrey Townsend, a junior Lew Wallace transfer, banked in a running three-pointer from the top of the key with the buzzer sounding to give the Cougars the win.

A furious flurry of back-and-forth buckets in the final minute had created what looked an overtime situation.

With eight seconds left, Shayne Barron scored on a lay-up to tie the game.

The Wolves, who had been pressuring the ball all night, picked up West Side full court.

With the middle jammed up, Marlon Northern found Townsend on the sidelines. He got the ball with about four seconds left, took a couple of dribble, crossed the half-court line and headed toward the middle of the floor.

Townsend was at least two steps beyond the three-point line. The ball hit the top of the square and bounced through.

“That was fun,” Townsend said. “It was a good game. I’d like to relive that moment.”

West Side was helped by 14 three-pointers. Richards prefers specific rules for his shooters.

But he threw out the book with this team.

His best player, Christian Jacobs, is in trouble in school-he will return next week-and guys still aren’t in the kind of basketball shapes he wants them in.

Thursday, he put in a new offense.

It’s pretty simple: Drive and kick.

If the lay-up is there, take it.

“The game shouldn’t have been that hard,” he said of Townsend’s last shot. “These guys have a low basketball IQ. But they can shoot.”

Boyd was convinced that the Cougars would finally start missing. He’d never really seen them play so unleashed.

“I kept thinking their legs would get tired,” he said.

They did, to a degree, falling behind by as many as seven in the first half.

But they were able to rally by making shots.

“They made some great shots,” Boyd said. “Some of those were 23-footers.”

Northern led West Side with 25 points, TaQuary Scott added 19 and Townsend finished with seven. ShaQuan Hemphill scored 21 for the Wolves and Michael Miller scored 18.